A metal-clad industrial bay houses Clay Ellis’s studio. The ceilings are high; the overhead door, when open, exposes the whole studio to the outside and enables free movement of materials in and finished pieces out.

A massive table in the centre of the main room serves as Ellis’s construction platform. Elements in progress stand within easy reach in upright bins around the outside of the room, ready for Ellis to incorporate into a piece. Some traditional artists’ tools are present, but so are the industrial tools Ellis requires to manufacture tools or machines to create his art. The custom-made machine that forms the three-dimensional, rope-like features for which Ellis is known occupies a side room.